Everyone needs compassion
And love that never fails
Let mercy fall on me
When everyone needs forgiveness
Kindness of the Saviour
The Hope of the nation
Saviour, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as you find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything that i believe in
Now i surrender
Shine a light in and
let the whole world see
Singing, for the glory of the risen king
Jesus, Shine a light and
let the whole world see
Singing for the glory of the risen king
yourstruly
Ern Chuen
Ex-Lasallian and RV High Year 1
Passionate, living and standing for Christ!!
Badminton, Christian gospel music, Family and Friends.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
-5:07 PM
I was actually thinking of posting something different today. But I saw someone who was hurt because of getting into a school she did not want. It's hard to believe I hated her before, yet I'm doing this for her. This confirms the fact that she has finally became my friend. The next passage I write is inspired and occasionally quoted by "The Purpose-Driven Life" by Rick Warren, with some parts added in by me. This is for you Natalie.
When God seems distant Sometimes God seems so distant. I'd had that feeling before. But God is real, no matter how you feel. It's really easy to worship God when things are all going well. But the greatest level of worship is to worship God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant. Natalie, do you have a actual friendship with God? Or is he just some medicine which you use when you are sick, asking Him for help when you're in trouble, and seperating when you're out of trouble? IF you do, friendships are often tested by seperation and silence. In your friendship with God, you won't alway feel close to him. To mature your friendship, God will test it with times of seeming seperation. David had one of the closest relationships with God. God called him "a man after my own heart". And yet, they were times when David complained about God's apparent absence. "Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" Psalms 10:1. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?" Psalm 22:1. "Why have you rejected me?" Psalm 43:2. Of course, God hasn't left you. He has made a promise, repeatedly for that matter. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:8, Psalm 37:28, John 14:15-18, Hebrews 13:5. But God has not promised "you will always feel my presence." This is normal! It's part of the testing and maturing of your friendship with God. It is painful and disconcerting, but it is absolutely vital for the developement of your faith. It is a test of faith. Will you continue to love, trust, obey, and worship God, even when you have no sense of his presence or visible evidence of his work in your life? When you worship, you do not look for a feeling. In fact, worship isn't suppose to bring a smile to your face. It's suppose to put a smile on God's face. He's more concerned that you trust him than that you feel him. Faith, not feelings, pleases God. Job lose everything he has in a single day. And the most discouraging is that in thirty-seven chapters, God said nothing! HOw do you praise God when you don't understand what's happening in your life and God is silent? How do you stay keep your eyes on Jesus when your eyes are clouded with tears? You do what Job did, "Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.'" Job 1:20-21
-Tell God exactly how you feel. Pour out your heart to God. Upload every emotion that you're feeling. Job did this when he said "I can't be quiet! I am angry and bitter. I have to speak!" God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion, and questions. God can handle that type of frankness. God hates model answers. God allowed Abraham to question and challenge him over the desturction of the city of Sodom. God listen patiently to David's many accusations of unfairness, betrayal, and abandonment. God did not slay Jeremiah when he claimed that God had tricked him. Job was allowed to vent his bitterness during his ordeal, and in the end, God defended Job for being honest. God expressed to Moses his disgust with Israel's disobedience, and said he won't take one step further with them into the desert. Moses responded in a startling example of frankess, that "this is YOUR people, your responsibility....If your presence doesn't take the lead here, call this trip off right now!" And God agreed. Admitting your hopelessness to God can be a statement of faith! David wrote, "I believed, so I said, 'I am completely ruined!'" Psalms 116:10 It might sound like a contradiction: I trust God but I'm wiped out. But it actually reveals deep faith. First, he believed in God. Secondly, he believed would listen. Thirdly, he believe God would let him be frank and yet still love him. -Focus on who God is--his unchanging nature, and worship him for that. Hang onto God's unchanging character. Remind yourself what you know is eternally true about God. "Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light." V. Raymond Edman. ->He is good and loving. ->He is all-powerful. ->He notices every detail of my life. ->He is in control. ->He has a plan for my life. ->He will save me. Then worship him for that. Worship is an ultimate surrender to God, giving God ALL control and trusting him. True, David did complain to God. But he always stop and have a selah moment, and then praise God, leading to incredible worship. Now this song is for you Nat. I'm not typing the lyrics out, I want you to listen carefully, open up your heart, and let it impact you.
-Turst God to keep his promises. During times of spiritual dryness you must patiently rely on the promises of God, not your emotions, and realise that he is taking you to a deeper level of maturity. So don't be troubled by trouble. Circumstances cannot change the character of God. God's grace is still in full force. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9 Job's faith was strong in the midst of pain. When you feel abandoned by God yet continue to trust him in spite of your feelings, you worship him in the deepest way. -Remember what God has already done for you. (this goes out to anyone one else reading this) If God never did anything else for you, he would still deserve your continual praise for the rest of your life because of what Jesus done for you on the cross. God's Son died for you! This is the greatest reason for worship. Unfortunately , we forget the cruel details of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. He was whipped with not just an ordinary whip, but those with hooks and nails, that ripped flesh off. 40 whips would have killed him. He was given 39. Imagine thorns digging into the veins of your temper. He was treated worse than an animal. Then, just 1 whip away from death, he was forced to drag a cumbersome cross up a hill. When he was nailed to the cross, the soldiers pulled his arms apart, they dislocated them, until each one was at one end of the cross. The nails went in between the two bones just below the palm. Take the most painful experience you had, and multiply that by 1000. Then, as the cross was erected, he would be pulled down by gravity, and his body weight would just be supported by two bones and his feet. And yet, people still mocked him Next, as He took all of mankind's sin and guilt on himself, God looked away from that ugly sight, and Jesus cried out in total desperation, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus could have saved himself--but he didn't. In fact, according to Hebrews 12:2, he did it with joy. What was that joy? You. It was you. He looked through the corridors of time and said "I'm doing this for Natalie. I'm doing this so that I could spend eternity with her in paradise." Jesus gave up everything so that you could have everything. That alone is worthy of your continual praise. Never again Natalie should you wonder what you have to be thankful for. And I'll end of with assurance, Nat, that the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalms 139:16 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11. "The Lord of Host has sworn, 'Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.'" Isiah 14:28. God has a great plan for you. Fear not, and believe in Yeshua Ha Meshiach. "And surely, I will be with you to the very end of age." Matthew 28:20
